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Published: June 2009

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Women and Men in the Labor Force, 2009 and Projected 2020, Ages 15+^*1

	Number of Women in the Labor Force, 2009	Number of Men in the Labor Force, 2009	Number of Women in the Labor Force, Projected 2020	Number of Men in the Labor Force, Projected 2020
Latin America & Caribbean	115,694,000	161,899,000	140,593,000	185,871,000
Central America	23,094,000	40,332,000	29,862,000	46,355,000
Caribbean	7,316,000	10,634,000	8,134,000	11,753,000
South America	85,284,000	110,933,000	102,596,000	127,763,000
Europe	165,917,000	190,635,000	164,309,000	182,141,000
Northern Europe	23,677,000	27,118,000	24,592,000	27,672,000
Western Europe	42,301,000	49,757,000	43,058,000	48,302,000
Eastern Europe	71,880,000	76,032,000	66,966,000	69,782,000
Southern Europe	28,058,000	37,729,000	29,693,000	36,384,000
Africa	164,442,000	233,087,000	226,887,000	305,386,000
Northern Africa	19,952,000	50,898,000	26,594,000	61,215,000
Western Africa	41,819,000	64,061,000	60,692,000	84,839,000
Eastern Africa	72,538,000	78,030,000	100,487,000	107,281,000
Middle Africa	20,643,000	28,875,000	28,696,000	39,811,000
Southern Africa	9,490,000	11,224,000	10,418,000	12,240,000
Northern America**	83,567,000	97,272,000	90,429,000	104,130,000
Canada	8,989,000	10,008,000	9,881,000	20,487,000
United States	74,578,000	87,264,000	80,548,000	93,523,000
Oceania***	7,946,000	9,440,000	9,301,000	10,613,000
Australia	5,046,000	6,054,000	5,724,000	6,507,000
New Zealand	1,061,000	1,226,000	1,173,000	1,334,000
Asia	772,057,000	1,227,475,000	875,770,000	1,385,000,000
Western Asia	19,994,000	58,120,000	24,649,000	70,551,000
South-Central Asia	214,507,000	497,857,000	279,077,000	599,864,000
South-Eastern Asia	122,784,000	173,273,000	145,039,000	202,245,000
Eastern Asia	414,772,000	498,225,000	427,004,000	513,191,000

Labor Force by Gender and Region, 2009 and Projected 2020, Ages 15+

United States

Canada

 

Latin America and Caribbean - Total

Europe - Total

While Latin America is projected to have a significant increase in both the size of the labor force and the number of women in the labor force compared to men, Europe is projected to stay rather static. Europe is dealing with a low or negative population growth and an aging population heading for retirement with not enough workers behind them to fill the vacancies. In Latin America, all age groups from 20 on are projected to show labor force growth. Europe, however, is projected to show a labor force decrease for worker age groups from 15-44. Workers in age groups 45-59 showed the only increase.

Labor Force Participation Rates of Women and Men, 2008 and Projected 2020¹

Country	Women, 2008	Men, 2008	Women, Projected 2020	Men, Projected 2020
Africa	54.0%	83.5%	55.2%	83.5%
Asia	51.8%	81.1%	50.0%	79.1%
Europe	50.6%	65.0%	49.7%	61.6%
Latin America and Caribbean	53.4%	78.7%	56.9%	75.9%
North America	59.8%	72.3%	58.5%	68.7%
Oceania	59.5%	71.6%	59.7%	68.7%

* Although women’s share of the labor force has increased almost everywhere, women are still less likely than men to be considered economically active. A major reason for the statistical discrepancy is the definition of “work.” National labor statistics generally count workers in or seeking employment in formal sector enterprises and not those engaging in unstructured and unregulated casual labor, such as petty trade, food processing, and domestic work, in which women are far more active than men.²

** Also includes Bermuda, Greenland, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

*** Includes area island nations as well as Melanesia and Micronesia.

Sources

¹ International Labour Office Bureau of Statistics, LABORSTA, “Economically Active Population Estimates and Projections: 1980-2020.”

² Joni Seager, The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, 2003.

UPDATED May 15, 2008